


A cabin in the Woods

by signpainter1



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, light fluff, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27435316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/signpainter1/pseuds/signpainter1
Summary: There are some scenarios where you can't help but learn to understand and respect each other. Apparently being stuck in a serial killer's cabin in the middle of the woods, pumped full of poison is one way. Yut-Lung never thought he would be in a situation where he had to rely on Eiji.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 108





	A cabin in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Here's a short story surrounding Eiji and Yut-Lung. It takes place kind of in the series but not at any specific time. Just a warning it has themes of kidnapping and slight themes of torcher (very, very slight). It's not a huge deal but if it affects you in any way please don't read. Lastly like all my stories, it's not beta-read (and I also wrote it at like 11:00 at night) if there are any mistakes that bother you feel free to point them out.

Yut-Lung cursed his stupidity as he pulled helplessly against his chains. It was absurd that this was how it was going to end. He always envisioned dying by an enemy’s hands, most likely Ash’s. Instead, he was chained to a wall in some serial killer’s cabin in the middle of the woods pumped full of poison. It was too stupid for words. He had been by himself for only two minutes. All he wanted to do was to go inside and talk to Sing about something. The next thing he knew he had woken up in the cabin, miles away from New York City. Yut-Lung cursed his carelessness. He usually was so guarded. Why did he think he was safe? Sing really brought out the worse of him.

After waking up, the first thing he did was complicate his situation. He had become complacent with his brothers gone. When he realized he was against a killer who wanted to watch his victims die a slow painful death, instead of a mafia he had scoffed. After years of putting up with his family, this was nothing. He easily picked the lock on the door and headed out. If Yut-Lung had thought it through, he would have realized the best thing to do was to wait for calmy for the man to let his guard down. He wasn’t thinking and underestimated the killer. Once the door was open, he made a break for it. The killer easily caught up with him and chained him to the wall.

Now he was pumped full of poison and suffering from it. . It was a rare kind of poison, one that took a long time to make. The killer must have spent years to perfect it. Yut-Lung would have been impressed if it wasn’t used against him. Although the poison was rare, Yut-Lung could identify it and knew its effects. The poison had 4 stages.

Stage 1: An extreme loss of energy and an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

Stage 2: Horrible stomach aches followed by terrible head pains.

Stage 3:An unbearable internal burning sensation.

Stage 4: A slow agonizing death.

In front of him, another victim groaned miserably and rolled over. Yut-Lung glanced down at the rest of the victims who were sprawled across the ground. He had almost forgotten they were there. The killer had brought about ten other people. They had panicked and tried to break down the door once they woke but couldn’t. After they were injected with the poison they slowly became subdued. None of them were chained up however since they didn’t manage to break free. The irony was that the door was unlocked now. The killer had left to get something in town and didn’t bother to lock the door. Instead, he left a camera rolling so he could watch their slow painful deaths at a later time. With no energy and no hope, the victims gave up. None of them were trying to leave through the unlocked door. It had lost its appeal. Outside wouldn’t cure them and they knew they would never make it to town in time.

Yut-Lung felt another wave of exhaustion him in and he slumped against the wall. It was almost insulting that he was going to die by poison. Usually, it was the one thing he had over everyone else. It was his weapon of choice. To die by that weapon made him angry. The other victims' moan and groans made it worse. Yut-Lung was injected before anyone else, so he was almost to stage two. They were still on stage one, yet he wasn’t making a scene and they were.

“Ash.”

The voice startled Yut-Lung out of his thoughts. Looking down he saw, to his surprise, Eiji curled at his feet. It looked like the Lynx didn’t do a great job protecting his little rabbit. Despite the dire situation, a smug smile tugged at his lips. At least he could die knowing Eiji was going down the same horrible way as him. Even without Yut-Lung’s intervention Eiji still was going to die. Now Ash would learn that keeping him around was a mistake.

Pain jabbed at his stomach caused Yut-Lung to wince. It seemed like he was entering stage two. He silently hoped that he would pass out during stage three so he wouldn’t be awake during the last and final stage. Yut-Lung looked over at the table that held the ingredients for the poison. He wondered if there was a way get one of the sharp objects from the table. It would be better to go out quickly with one of them, then slowly by this poison. As he looked at the table, he suddenly realized that all the ingredients were there for an antidote. Either the man was stupid and wasn’t aware of it or he made it in case he got poisoned by mistake.

A wave of nausea hit Yut-Lung and he buckled forward. His chest hurt as he gagged. He hated how pathetic this was. After years of planning his brother’s demises and waiting quietly from the shadow, he going to die in such a pitiful way. His brothers must be laughing at him from hell. Yut-Lung tried to ignore the pain as he thought over his options. If all the ingredients were there to make an antidote there might be a chance of escaping. Of course, he couldn’t make it himself with his hands chained and he couldn’t pick the lock, nor did he know where the key was. This left one option, he needed one of the other victims to make it for him.

As he mulled this over, he could see the biggest flaw about it. Humans were predictable and cowardly creatures run by their greed and fear. He had used this many times to his advantage. Now however it was his downfall. When push came to shove, they fled when scared. There was no guarantee that whoever he asked would give him the antidote after making it for themselves. More likely when their malaise had lifted they would find themselves in a state of shock and terror. The need to escape the killer who caught them would outweigh their need to help others. Staying endangered them to be caught by the killer when he returned.

Yut-Lung couldn’t really blame them. If he was given the antidote, he would bail and leave them. Why help them when it put him in danger as well? Of course, this ruled out this option. Yut-Lung was not going to save a random person for no reason. Usually, money or power could be used to sway human nature, but that only worked if you were the source of the fear. The killer held all the power in this situation. Nothing Yut-Lung could offer or threaten would change that. Another sharp pain thrashed through his stomach but didn’t fade. Instead, it sat there weighing on him like a bolder. At the same time, his head started to throb. Yut-Lung resigned himself, once again, to his fate.

“Ash.” Eiji sobbed loudly curling his legs into his chest. Yut-Lung guessed he was about to start stage two. Good, at least Yut-Lung had something to entertain him while he waited to die. Eiji was so pathetic, curled up in a ball crying for Ash. Yut-Lung never understood why Ash kept such a creature around. If Ash was here instead of Eiji he would have forced the directions on how to make the antidote out of Yut-Lung in order to get free. Eiji wasn’t that smart or tough.

As Yut-Lung watched the Japanese boy cry through his pain and hopelessness, a thought occurred to him. He cocked his head and stared at Eiji with renewed interest. Although Eiji was a useless creature that served no purpose whatsoever, there was one thing Yut-Lung had overlooked. Eiji had been in enough dangerous situations to not automatically act on fear. Yut-Lung remembered how hard Eiji had fought to escape when the Chinese boss had caught him. If it wasn’t for the poison making him feel hopeless, Eiji would probably try to escape. This also meant that if Yut-Lung told him how to make the antidote, Eiji’s soft nature would lead him to try to save everyone else. Eiji’s kindness might be Yut-Lung’s only chance to get out of this alive.

Yut-Lung bit his lip. If Eiji got the antidote and bailed, it would be a blow to Yut-Lung’s ego. It would mean he had enabled Eiji to return to Ash and continually drag the lynx down. That being said Yut-Lung couldn’t picture Eiji fleeing by himself. This was the same guy who, right after Yut-Lung and told him he would go after Ash, still couldn’t shoot.

Making up his mind Yut-Lung kicked out his foot hitting Eiji’s back. The Japanese groaned and looked up, his eyes heavy with pain and sadness. He stared at Yut-Lung in surprise, clearly not expecting to see him there.

“Listen closely.” Yut-Lung hissed. “If you do exactly what I say you will be able to leave here alive.” Eiji stared at him as the words slowly sunk in. The poison made him slower than usual. When it did understand he nodded weakly.

“Great, first get up and go over to the table.”

The whole process took longer than Yut-Lung wanted it to. Eiji, not used to dealing with constant pain, had a hard time functioning correctly. It took him a while to drag himself to the table and then even longer to start making the antidote. Yut-Lung had to repeat each direction at least twice before Eiji would do it. This was hard for Yut-Lung as his head felt lie it was about to split open and his stomach wanted to expel everything inside it.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Eiji measured out a tablespoon of the antidote and gulped it down. He gasped and fell to the ground. Yut-Lung knew it must feel like ice rushing through his body. As he watched Eiji jerked ones, twice and then his face relaxed and his eyes cleared. Yut-Lung opened his mouth to tell Eiji to give him some when a suddenly splitting pain rushed through his body. His blood was burning. It flew through his veins, spreading like a wildfire, consuming all that it touched. Yut-Lung gasped in pain and he doubled over. He had hit stage three. As the pain continues to grow, he opened his mouth again to demand the antidote and instead screamed. The world faded as the pain became too much.

“~~~~~~”

“Yut-Lung~~~~~`”

“Yut-Lung can you hear me?”

A voice was calling out to him. Yut-Lung didn’t want to open his eyes. He didn’t want to return to the horrible nightmare that he just escaped. Someone shook him harshly and he gritted his teeth. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, he realized he was cold and sore. He felt weak as if he had just gotten over a terrible illness, the pain however was gone.

“Please open your eyes.” The voice sounded panicked. Yut-Lung reluctantly obeyed. Kneeling in front of him was Eiji. He gasped in relief once he saw Yut-Lung was awake. His face relaxed and he looked around the room.

“We need to get you free.” He surveyed some of the small sharp tools on the table. “I could try to pick the lock…” he didn’t sound very confident. Yut-Lung stared at him. His observations on Eiji were correct. Even though Yut-Lung hadn’t asked for the antidote Eiji had given it to him. It was the unsettling kindness that Yut-Lung usually wanted to crush. Now he had relied on it.

“I’ll see if I can find the key.” Eiji hopped up and started searching. Yut-Lung watched him for a minute before looking around. Everyone else was gone. Of course they were, Eiji’s conscience probably couldn’t bear to leave them to die. From the looks of it, they took off the second they could move again. Eiji was the only one to stay behind to help Yut-Lung.

“Ah-ha!” Eiji pulled a set of keys out of a jar. “Let me try these.” Yut-Lung watched him try each key. Now that his head was clear, his annoyance was returning. He hated this. He was helpless, relying on the Lynx’s pet for help. He was supposed to be better, independent. He didn’t survive all those years because he relied on someone else.

“Got it” With a loud click the chains fell and Yut-Lung slumped to the ground. Eiji helped him sit “Can you walk?”

“No.” Yut-Lung’s voice was hoarse and he wondered how long he screamed before Eiji had managed to stuff the antidote down his throat. Eiji put Yut-Lung’s arm around his neck and dragged him to his feet. The Japanese boy was surprisingly strong. Yut-Lung would never have guessed. This information bothered him. Learning random facts about Eiji made him more than Ash’s pet. Usually, he took Eiji’s actions and words and twisted them to fit into his own view on reality. It was easy when he was in his own environment, surrounded by his men and power at his fingertips. Now he was trapped with Eiji in an environment neither were comfortable in. The vail that Yut-Lung hid behind had fallen, leaving him to face the real Eiji Okumura.

Eiji slowly dragged them out of the cabin. Outside Yut-Lung took a grateful gulp of clean air. The cabin had smelled of vomit and blood. The sun was setting as Eiji guided them into the woods. Yut-Lung wondered how long they had before the killer returned and found all his victims gone. They needed to get deep into the forest before then. Despite having to carry half of Yut-Lung’s weight plus his own, Eiji didn’t complain. Apparently, he could rise to a challenge when needed. It was another thing Yut-Lung didn’t want to know.

The moon was high overhead and it must have been way past midnight when Eiji finally collapsed to the ground, too tired to carry Yut-Lung anymore. Yut-Lung toppled over and lay there. His body was sore, and he could barely move. Stage three had taken a great toll on him. It was so dark that he could only see Eiji’s outline. In the night’s silence, he could hear the other man’s wheezing breath. Despite his best efforts, Yut-Lung was impressed. They must have walked for hours, yet it took this long for Eiji to fall. A normal person couldn’t do that. Yut-Lung caught himself wondering if Eiji had been an athlete in Japan before he remembered he didn’t care. As Yut-Lung lay there in the darkness he realized that they were probably far enough away from the killer. Even if the man knew the forest area well, it would be hard to search in the darkness. It also looked like the rest of the victims had scattered in all directions making it even less likely for the killer to go after them. They were safe for now.

“Hey,” Eiji’s voice cut through the darkness. “Thanks.”

“For what?” Yut-Lung rasped irritated.

“For telling me how to make the antidote. You didn’t need to do that.”

“I only did that because I knew you were stupid enough to help me afterward.” Yut-Lung’s head was hurting again.

“Even so, thanks. It’s because of that, we’re all alive.”

Yut-Lung narrowed his eyes. Why was Eiji thanking him? Was he really grateful or did he want Yut-Lung to thank him in return? If so, he was sadly mistaken. Yut-Lung wasn’t going to thank him for being gullible. He wasn’t going to let the Japanese man know how much pain he would have been in, if he had been left there. Yut-Lung clenched his fists in anger. How dare the Japanese expect that of him. Who did he think he was? Yut-Lung wasn’t Ash. He wasn’t going to become soft just because Eiji wanted it.

“I hate you.”

“Yeah, I know.” He could almost hear Eiji rolling his eyes. “You made that very clear." Yut-Lung fumed for another minute before spitting out,

“Thank you for helping me back there.”

“What?” Eiji shifted around so he was facing Yut-Lung.

“I said thank you for helping me back there.” Yut-Lung hissed. “I won’t repeat it again.”

“Oh.” Eiji sounded thoroughly shocked. It took a moment for Yut-Lung to realize he hadn’t been expecting words of gratitude. Anger flared up in Yut-Lung again but it was not against Eiji. He was angry at himself. If Eiji hadn’t expected any gratitude, then why did Yut-Lung feel the need to say anything? He had felt pressured to thank Eiji. What would he feel that way? He usually didn’t care what others thought.

“I don’t get you.” Eiji shifted again until he was looking up at the trees. “You never made sense to me.”

“Shut up,” Yut-Lung growled. They fell silent again. It was an uncomfortable silence. Yut-Lung didn’t know why but it made him irritated.

“Were you an athlete back in Japan?” Yut-Lung said randomly hoping to fill the silence.

“Yeah, I was.” Eiji sounded surprised. “How did you know?”

“Most people couldn’t have walked as far as you did while carrying someone else, especially after being poisoned. You clearly had some sort of stamina training.”

“I was a pole vaulter.” Eiji sounded sad. “But then I got hurt and…I could never do it after that.”

Yut-Lung could mock him for giving up so easily. He could make a snide comment on how pitiful it was to be worked up over such a small thing. He could compare Eiji’s pain to Ash’s to prove who had suffered more. Instead, he said.

“Do you regret giving it up?”

“Not really…at least not anymore.” Eiji seemed to be smiling. “If I hadn’t given it up, Ibe-san wouldn’t have brought me to New York, and I wouldn’t have met Ash.”

“I see.” Yut-Lung didn’t know what to do with that information. He felt vulnerable, open. Although he wasn’t giving any information, he was allowing someone else to share information about themselves. This humanized him. Eiji was quickly turning from Ash’s weakness to a real human being whose thoughts and emotions had some meaning.

“Even though the trees block most of them, you can still see the stars from here,” Eiji said randomly. “It sorts of feels like we’re camping.” Yut-Lung wanted to roll his eyes and point out that being kidnapped by murder was nothing like camping. Instead, he muttered,

“I never went camping.”

“Neither have I. It’s just what I think camping feels like.”

“You never did family outings?” Yut-Lung scoffed. Didn’t all normal families go camping together? It felt like something they would do. He always saw posters of happy families sitting together around a campfire.

“No….My family life was…complicated.” Eiji didn’t seem to want to go on.

Once again a hundred different comments flew through Yut-Lung’s mind. He could scoff at Eiji. He could diminish his family hardships by sharing what his brothers did to him. He could make a remark about it. He didn’t.

“Family sucks no matter where you are.”

“Yeah.”

They lapped back into silence again, this one more comfortable. Yut-Lung felt tired but his, but his body was so high on adrenaline he couldn’t sleep. After a minute a low rumbling came from Eiji.

“Hungry?” Yut-Lung snorted.

“Shut up.” Eiji sounded embarrassed. Yut-Lung tittered annoyedly. Leave it to Eiji to somehow get hungry after his body went through hell because of the poison.

“If you move your right hand, you’ll feel a plant with sticky leaves. It’s edible.”

“Really?” Yut-Lung heard Eiji’s hand shift around. “Ah, got it.” There was a snapping sound followed by chewing.

“Ugg.” Eiji gagged. “Are you sure this isn’t poisonous?”

“I said edible, not tasty.” Yut-Lung couldn’t help smirking at Eiji’s disgust. Eiji swallowed and made a gagging sound. After a few minutes, the chomping stopped.

“Thanks again. I was really hungry.”

“Just shut up and to go to sleep.” Yut-Lung’s amusement faded. “I only did that so your stomach wouldn’t keep us up all night.” That was a lie. In truth, he had no idea why he did that. A small part of his mind was chastising him for helping an enemy, but he was barely listening to it.

Eiji was a person now, Yut-Lung couldn’t deny it. Eiji Okumura was a nineteen-year-old Japanese male who had a problematic family history. He used to be an athlete but stopped after an injury. He didn’t regret coming to America because of Ash. He laughed easily and would help someone who needed it. Yut-Lung never allowed the people around him to become humans. They were either his enemies, underlings, or common folk to be ignored. By categorizing those around him it made it easier to kill or give unpleasant orders without feeling anything.

The only other person who made it out of those three categories was Sing. He never listened to Yut-Lung, but Yut-Lung couldn’t ignore him or see him as an enemy. Yut-Lung doubted he could ever give an order to kill Sing. He was human as well. He always was. Yut-Lung never tried to make him anything else. Now Eiji had also crosse that line.

“I’ll stop hunting you and Ash.” Yut-Lung declared suddenly. “I’ll leave you two alone to destroy each other or get married or whatever else you want to do. I don’t care anymore.”

“Thank you.”

“How many times are you going to say that?” Yut-Lung snapped. “It’s getting old. I don’t need your gratitude. Do all Japanese people act like you or are you just gullible?”

Eiji laughed lightly. “It’s funny, Ash thinks I apologize too much.” He shifted so he was facing Yut-Lung again. “But in all seriousness, I’m glad we’re no longer enemies.”

“Shut up, I still hate you.” Yut-Lung forced his body to turn so he was facing away from Eiji. “That’s not going to change. Now go to sleep.”

Usually turning your back on another human was dangerous. Yut-Lung had learned to sleep facing the door in case his brothers or an assassin tried to get in. A small part of him wanted to turn around but he felt too tired. It didn’t matter anyway. Eiji wasn’t going to attack him, he knew that much. It was a strange realization. Lying there under the trees knowing the other person with you wasn’t a threat, it was strangely peaceful. Yut-Lung was weakened. Now would be the perfect time to abandon him or harm him. If it was anyone else, they might have done it. Eiji however wouldn’t. Yut-Lung didn’t know what to make of it.

Perhaps that was what Ash liked about Eiji. Perhaps Ash didn’t see Eiji as some saviors come to rescue him from his fate. Instead, he saw him as a shelter against cruel reality. It must be nice to enter your home after fighting the raging storm and let go of your mask. It must be nice just to be weak and helpless without being judged. It must be nice to have another human you could turn away from and not be betrayed. It must be nice to fall asleep knowing they would still be there in the morning.

At that moment Yut-Lung understood Eiji’s appeal. A part of him yearned to make that same connection with another human. Usually, he would crush such feelings, but he was too tired, too vulnerable. He found himself wondering if there was a human out there, he could trust enough to let in. He wondered if someday he would be able to let his walls down, to actually admit he was hurting, to cry and mourn the loss of his mother and his humanity. He wondered if his relationship with Sing could get to that point. He wondered if letting Sing in would bring him peace. With those final thoughts, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

Yut-Lung was not surprised when he woke up the next morning to find that Eiji hasn’t snuck off in the night. The Japanese man was lying under the soft early morning light, a general smile on his face. The sight of such a peaceful slumber made Yut-Lung want to kick him. The morning had brought Yut-Lung’s strength back as well as his temper and walls. He fought the urge and turned away to survey his surroundings. They were very deep in the forest. The trees towered above them and wild plants grew everywhere. Yut-Lung wasn’t sure what direction to go to find civilization.

He was about to get up and see if he could find any clues to where they were when a twig snapping caught his attention. Turning, he saw a group of men slinking through the undergrowth. It took about half a second for him to identify them as his own men. When he did, he quickly stood up and staggered over to them. As they saw him approach, they lowered their guns.

“Sir, are you alright?” one man gasped catching Yut-Lung as he stumbled.

“Fine,” Yut-Lung grunted. “What’s the situation?”

“We located the cabin and searched the forest and nearby towns for you.”

“And the killer?”

“We don’t know where he went. He didn’t return. We’re guessing that he fled when the police arrived.

“Useless,” Yut-Lung growled.

“Sir,” one of the other men noticed Eiji. “Is that Eiji Okumura? What should we do with him?”

Yut-Lung glanced back at Eiji who was still fast asleep. Somehow the loud voices nearby hadn’t alerted him of the potential danger. He was pathetic. Yut-Lung had a strong urge to just leave Eiji there. He could go back on his word and abandon the Japanese man in the middle of the forest. Maybe he would just have his men shoot him. Yut-Lung had revealed too much last night. He had let his walls down and let Eiji know he was in fact human. This was a danger to him. He should eliminate the threat right away. Then the urge faded, and Yut-Lung sighed.

“Take him back to New York City, locate Ash Lynx, and leave him with him.” Yut-Lung paused. “He’s a guest so treat him gently.” It seemed like the effects of yesterday were permanent. Yut-Lung couldn’t view Eiji as he used to. The appeal of watching the Japanese man suffer or die had disappeared. It wouldn’t achieve anything except make him feel bad. Apparently being stuck in a cabin pumped up on poison was a way to get over your differences. This didn’t mean he was happy about it.

Storming over to Eiji, Yut-Lung nudged him hard with his foot. “Get up.”

Eiji gave a piteous moan and opened his eyes. He sat up rubbing the area Yut-Lung nudge with a grumpy expression.

“You could have found a better way to wake me.”

Yut-Lung ignored that comment. “My men are here. They’ll take you back to Ash.” Eiji’s eyes lit up and he opened his mouth.

“Than-”

“If you thank me one more time, I’ll have my men gun you down and send your hole-ridden body to Ash in a wrapped box topped with a bow.” Yut-Lung snapped. “Now get going!” he paused. “Oh and tell Ash that if he wants to help me hunt down the killer, he’s free to.”

Eiji’s expression hardened. “Leave Ash out of this.”

“Oh please.” Yut-Lung waved a hand dismissively. “He’d hunt the killer down all on his own once he heard what happened to you. Think of this as a safer way. With all my men and equipment we are more likely to be able to hunt the killer without any casualties.”

“Fine,” Eiji sighed.

“Good now get out of my sight.” Yut-Lung turned away as he heard Eiji leave with some of his men. Yut-Lung wanted to search the cabin again and then make sure everything was in order with his men. After that…. It was hunting time.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! I suppose they aren't friends per say but they're on much better terms. If you enjoyed the story feel free to leave a Kudo or comment. If you didn't enjoy the story or have any thoughts at all feel free to leave a comment. I love to read them.


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